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It's a Saturday afternoon in northern Iraq and a runway is being rebuilt at Irbil Airport, just five minutes from the base of South Korea's Zaytun Division. The area is in the middle of a construction boom. The airport's main runway is being extended to 4.7km and widened to 45m to make it ready for jumbo aircraft like Boeing 747s, while in town large-scale apartment complexes with names like "Empire World" and "Dream City" are going up around the city.
The boom is part of the provincial government's plan to turn Irbil into a thriving commercial hub in the post-Saddam Hussein-era. The Empire World project measures some 825,000 sq.m and includes a hotel and casino, while the massive Dream City residential project measures 1.089 million sq.m and will feature 1,000 apartment houses.
Right now most of the development in Irbil is being done by businesses from nearby countries like Turkey and Lebanon, but Irbil's leaders are keen to attract investment from South Korea. The prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, the body that rules northern Iraq's Kurdistan Region, has noted with interest South Korean investments in other Middle Eastern countries.
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South Korea's Zaytun Division commander General Hwang Jung-sun (left) and Nawjad Hadee, the governor of Irbil Province (second right) join students in a traditional dance at a dedication ceremony for a new middle school in Irbil, Iraq, on Saturday./Yonhap
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In a meeting with South Korean journalists Saturday, Nawjad Hadee, the governor of Irbil Province, said he's hoping Korean oil and energy businesses will recognize his region's potentials. He unfolded a map on a table and pointed to nearby oil fields. "Thanks to the trust built by the Zaytun Division, we'd like to help South Korea companies develop Irbil's oil fields," Hadee said. Iraq has the world's third-largest oil deposits with proven reserves of around 115 billion barrels.
The South Korean government, which has been reluctant to promote investment in Iraq because of the unstable security situation, is now starting to change its position. In late January the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy sent a trade mission, including representatives from oil companies, to Iraq to look into development possibilities. Last Thursday, a consortium of Korean companies including the Korean National Oil Corporation, Samsung Corporation and SK Corporation, sent a geological unit to Iraq to survey some potential drilling sites, while the Ministry of Construction and Transportation signed an agreement last month to participate in a project to improve Irbil's aging water and sewage systems.
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Soldiers from South Korea's Zaytun Division on Saturday perform the Korean martial art Taekwondo during a ¡°Green Angel¡± event, a campaign aimed at promoting friendly ties with locals in Irbil, Iraq. /Yonhap
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If all goes well, South Korea could enjoy another business boom in the Middle East. Early last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade joined with the so-called Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) based in Irbil. By June the RRT's work should be in full-swing, including an economic development project and the Zaytun Division's regional reconstruction duties. The development projects stem from the presence of the South Korean troops in the area.
For this reason, military officers have stressed the importance of plans to carry out development after the Korean troops are brought home. There is support for a gradual troop pull-out, rather than a quick one, so that the development projects can build on the foundation of trust the Zaytun Division has created. But experts point out that there are still many issues that must be addressed before investment can begin in earnest, including the precarious security situation in Irbil and the ongoing nationwide political turmoil.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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